Apparatus for strengthening the heads of railway rails



April 1930. J. LUKASCZYK 1,752,646

APPARATUS FOR STRENGTHENING THE HEADS O FCRKILWAY RAILS Filed Feb. 25, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 TJlu/(cascz K April 1,- 1930. J. LUKASCZYK APPARATUS FOR STRENGTHENING THE HEADS OF RAILWAY RAILS Filed Feb. 25, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 1 1930 UNITED STATES JAKOB LUKASCZYK, OF ROSENBERG, OBERPFALZ, GERMANY APPARATUS FOR STRENGTHENING THE HEADS OF RAILWAY RAILS Application filed February 25, 1927, Serial No. 170,967, and in Germany February 23, 1926.

Processes are already known for improving or strengthening the heads of railway rails for the purpose of obtaining greater resistance to wear on the tread surfaces. Ac-

5 cording to these processes the rail that has just left the rolling mill and is consequently still warm is dipped with its head in water and quenched below the critical temperature for rail steel, the quenched outer layer of the rail head being tempered by the heat remaining in the interior of the rail head and also in the web and flange.

For the carrying out of this process the rail after being cut to a suitable length for use (normal length of 15 metres) by means of a hot saw, is clamped while still warm in a suitable appliance and dipped with the rail head into water. The clamping of the rails in suitable appliances is at the same time intended to prevent twisting.

Now it has been found that for the carrying out of this process on a large scale special appliances are necessary in order to make the working economical, and to ensure the 2 object in view being attained. These appliances must enable the rail to be conveniently gripped and held fast during the strengthening process, and may, as has been found, be at the same time employed for eliminating any slight curvatures that have arisen.

In the accompanying drawings two constructional forms of such appliances are illustrated wherein Figs. 1 and 2 show, in longitudinal and side elevation respectively, an appliance working with a crane, and

Figs. 3 and 4 show two views of an appliance for turning the rail.

In Figure 1 a denotes the lifting gear of an electric crane, and b the point of attachment of a second lifting mechanism which acts upon a tongs mechanism h. c is the saddle on the longitudinal girder of the clamping appliance.

The apparatus works in the following manner:-

The rail warm from the rolling mill and sawed to length, behind the saw is placed upon a roller track by a suitable device, which may be operated either by hand or mechanically, in such a way that the head comes to the bottom and the broad foot flange to the top. The clamping device is then let down on to the displayed rail foot by means'of an electric travelling crane. By this means in the first place the curvature of the rail upwards arising from the loss of heat is obviated, since the rail, under the weight of the clamping apparatus, is pressed down on to the roller track and thus straightened out. By means of the second lifting mechanism 1), the tongs mechanism h is now set in motion, so that it grips the rail at short distances by its foot and clamps it firmly against the saddle c on the longitudinal girder of the clamping apparatus. The rail so clamped is now lifted ofi the roller track by the crane, dipped with its head into a vessel containing liquid, and quenched as rapidly as possible below the critical temperature of the rail steel. Thereupon the rail is lifted again by the crane, carried to one side and placed upon a warm bed for slow cooling. The heat that has remained in the interior of the head, and also in the web and in the foot now efiects a warming and tempering of the outer layer of the rail head, as a result of which the desired increase in the power to resist wear, and in the tenacity is obtained.

Obviously the traveling crane employed may have any desired drive, and the drive for the tongs mechanism It may also be effected in any desired manner. Instead of the electrical power hereinbefore proposed, compressed air and the like may for example be employed.

In the constructional form illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, d denotes the roller track upon which lies the rail, cut to the length in which it is to be used. 6 is a shifting and pressing appliance, f the arm of the turning device, and h the tongs mechanism.

The shifting and pressing device 6 presses the rail against the arms 7 of the turning device, whereby the curvature occasioned by the loss of heat is counteracted. The tongs h, driven by compressed air for example, then take hold of the rail and press it firmly against the arms of the turning appliance. When the latter has rotated about its shaft i in the direction of the arrow through 27 0 for example, the rail head comes into the liquid is, and upon being dipped therein is promptly quenched. As soon as this result has been obtained to the desired extent, the

' turning device is rotated back again, so that the rail is released at g from the clamping tongs and can be slipped for cooling on to the warm bed.

It is evident that the rotation through 27 0 is not essential for the purposeof reaching the quenching vessel, but that the appliance might be so designed as to effect merely a rotation of 90 in the opposite direction for example. That any suitable means can be employed for the driving of the tongs and of the apparatus as a whole needs no emphasizing.

The apparatus according to Figs. 3 and 4 may be so modified that the clamping appliances and the tongs driven by compressed air are fitted into a long drum, which moves with wheel flanges upon rails until the clamped rail has reached a position with its head vertically downwards and can thus be dipped into the water trough.

What I claim is Apparatus for strengthening the heads of railway rails, comprislng, a supporting device, a longitudinal girder connected with the supporting device, a saddle on said longitudinal girder, a tongs mechanism adapted to grip the upper face of the base and the web of a rail and to press the lower face of the base of the rail firmly against said saddle, and a lifting device adapted to drivesaid tong mechanism.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JAKOB LUKASCZYK. 

